Finding My Way to You
by HasThisUsernameBeenTaken
Summary: Kagome Higurashi has just been accepted into the super prestigious St. Midoriko University. She just wants to have a normal, chill life here, but, as fate would have it, a certain golden-eyed boy is intent on making sure it's the exact opposite. She already has to deal with navigating this different, rich and entitled environment and now this?
1. Chapter 1

**WHAT UP YALL.**

 **I'm back and better than ever! If you already know me, you know that this story is a reboot of a 5-year-old version. I looked at it like, you know what? I can do so much better! So, I'm going to! If you're new, hi there! I'm a 9-year-old fanfic veteran. God that made me sound so old, but I'm not! I'm 21! Which is still kind of old but hey!**

 **As always, enjoy!**

 **I do not own Inuyasha.**

…

' _So, this is it huh?'_

The thought feels more dismal than I expected it to be, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised; this is my last day at home. I didn't plan on lingering, I felt it would be better to just rip the band-aid off, jump in the car, and ride off; but Goshinboku had other plans. I find myself frozen in front of the sacred tree with the last of my luggage clutched in my hand, reminiscing about all the times I would run around it with my parents and brother. This tree is a part of me in a sense, it lives on my family's shrine grounds after all.

"Kagome! I'm glad I caught you; I was worried you would just take off."

I snap out of my thoughts and turn around seeing my smiling, doting mother. Clad in an apron, and with trace amounts of some sort of sauce on her face, she holds a bento out to me.

"A meal for the road?"

I smile back and hug her tightly.

"Thanks mama," I pull back and give her a playful glare, "and by the way, I wouldn't just leave the city without telling you!"

She laughs, "Oh I know. You're just such a free-spirit so I guess I expect it."

Her expression sobers up a bit and she just stares at me tucking a lock of raven hair behind my ear.

"I am so proud of you Kagome. St. Midoriko University is a great school; you're going to do brilliantly."

My nose tingles and I feel my eyes begin to well up. She and I have worked so hard to get this scholarship; late nights, extra shifts at work, the works! All our hard work paid off. St. Midoriko University is one of the most prestigious, private schools in the country. It's demographic mainly consists of people from well-off families, but once in a while someone like me with one or two exceptional skills can sneak in. As someone who wants to focus on developing her art, I'm really excited; their program is renowned.

"I just don't know why you have to go so far."

I turn to see my little brother Souta who seems to have snuck up on me while my mother and I were having our moment. My little brother is probably my best friend and I've spoiled him terribly, so he isn't at all happy that I'm leaving. This is one of the things that are hard for me too though; of course, I want to see my little brother through his first year of high school!

I smile releasing my mom from our hug and reach a hand out ruffling his hair, a gesture he's never liked but is allowing now.

"Don't pout Squirt! I'll come visit as much as I can; I have a car you know."

He rolls his eyes at the childhood nickname but graces his annoying big sister with a hug anyway.

"I'm going to miss you," he mutters.

Oh man, the tears just want to fall today. I squeeze him tightly for as long as I can before my mom interrupts.

"Alright Souta, that's enough. We'll never be able to let her go at this rate," she sniffles obviously trying to hold back her own tears.

I give both one last hug and kiss before popping my trunk and placing my last bag inside. I slide into the driver's seat and let out a big sigh; this drive from Kyoto to Tokyo is going to be a long one. With a final wave, I pull out of the driveway and head out.

…

Somehow, this old, green Toyota of mine made the six-hour drive to the university rolling in at my desired 12 p.m. This place is absolutely huge! I thought it was a hassle getting through Tokyo in general, but this school looked like it was going to be its own beast of a maze. I follow the signs propped up on the campus until I make it to dorm building 'Tama'. Pretty old way to say jewel, but I'll take it.

I pull into the cul-de-sac in front of the entrance where it looks like older students are helping the newcomers move in. Almost immediately, one of the students come up to my window, which I roll down immediately. He's grinning widely, which is for some reason a little off-putting, and waves.

"Hi there!"

"Hi," I respond trying to match his enthusiasm.

"So custodial parking is actually in the lot behind the building."

I blink slowly processing what he's just said to me. Oh my god, he doesn't even think I'm a student here.

I feel my cheeks heat up from embarrassment, "Actually, I'm a new student here."

He raises an eyebrow and looks at my care and then back at me.

"Are you sure you're at the right school-?"

"Geez Sousuke, just leave. I'll take care of her."

A girl with long, brown hair shoves the guy from my window looking very irritated. She huffs and combs her hair out of my face turning her attention to me. Cute china bangs fall right above chocolate brown eyes, and her long hair frames a heart shape face. There's a vibe about her that oozes strength and warmth; definitely a trustworthy person.

"I'm so sorry about that," she bows, "here, let me help you with your stuff."

I nod, not able to respond immediately for some reason, and pop the trunk. I get out of my car and pull out the bags with her.

"You're Kagome Higurashi, right? I'm Sango Nakamura" she asks hefting two big duffel bags over her shoulder.

She must be strong as hell because those particular bags were heavy as hell. I'm left with my bloated, yellow backpack that's filled with all my art supplies.

"Um yeah, is it my car that gave it away?" I laugh, really awkwardly, still embarrassed from earlier.

"Honestly, yeah. It's other things too though!" she says quickly clearly trying not to offend me any more than that guy already had, "you don't have a lot of stuff like most people here, and you're the only one dressed practically."

I glance down at my former high school's sweatpants and matching black hoodie, and then around at the other girls who were moving in. They're all breathtakingly glamourous! Plus, most of them have entire moving trucks with them.

"I thought the rooms were already furnished so I just brought clothes and some personal things," I mutter shocked at all the glam around me.

"That's exactly what you were supposed to do," she laughs, "c'mon, let's get you up to your room."

I smile; I'm really glad she's so nice! I guess I expected everyone to be really snobby because that's how rich kids are on TV. Maybe that's how they are in real life, but at least Sango is cool.

We pile into one of the elevators, and I watch as she presses for floor eight. I guess she knows my room already.

"You're probably wondering how I already know where you need to be. There's been talk about a girl who got in here on recommendations and scholarship, so I knew it was you when I saw you."

I stare at her in awe.

'A mind reader.'

"That's really cool by the way. I know the process to get in this place is rough, you must be really smart."

"I guess so? I just study a lot."

It's a little strange everyone can pick each other out so easily, but it is a small university. We continue to make small talk and I get more and more comfortable with her. She really is cool, and, as we finally reach my room, I'm a little disappointed our conversation has to end.

"Well, here we are! Room 803," she says placing a ring of four keys into my hand, "It's been nice talking to you Kagome," she says smiling.

"You too, hopefully we'll see each other around."

"Well hope no more because I'm in the room directly across from you!"

I almost laugh at what a ridiculous coincidence it is.

"Well cool, then I'll definitely see you around."

We both share a wave as she heads back to the elevator. Once she's gone I face the door and look down at my many keys. Two of them are identical, old-fashioned looking brass keys, so I'm assuming that they go to this main door right here, which is strange though because shouldn't my roommate get the other one? The other two keys are also brass, but each has a different colored little jewel at the end, a red and green one.

I take one of the jewel-less brass key and slide it into the lock. I hear the click indicating the unlocking of the door and open it, stepping inside dragging my bags behind me. My jaw literally drops. There is no way this is an actual dorm.

Once you step through the door the place opens up into a large living room complete with a plasma TV, a large couch, and two loveseats. Tucked into a corner is the rich peoples' version of a kitchenette with a handy dandy bar counter. The room is splashed with neutral shades of light and dark grays, but it somehow doesn't look bland at all.

On either side of the room are the doors that lead to the two separate dorm rooms. Both were named after gems it looks like, a ruby room and an emerald room. Since I'm the first one here and green happens to be my favorite color, naturally I start to drag my belongings towards the emerald room.

As I make my way over, I spot an envelope on the coffee table in the center of the living room. I set my bags back down and go to see what it's about, figuring it's probably important. It's sealed with a wax stamp of the school's sigil in blood red; very dramatic I love. I peel it open carefully and unfold the letter.

 _Dear Ms. Higurashi,_

 _I'm sorry to inform you that we were unable to find you a roommate due to the lack of young women enrolled this year. You will be without a roommate your first year, and I would say that it wouldn't be a stretch to assume it will be like that for the rest of your years here as we only pair students with those in their own grade. It's very rare for students to transfer in their junior and senior year, but we'll keep our fingers crossed! Please try to enjoy your stay besides this fact._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Dorm Head Kaede_

I can't say I'm entirely disappointed. Of course, it would be nice to maybe have someone to tackle this place together, but, at my core, I'm a pretty reserved person. I set it back down deciding to find a trashcan later and set to the task of unpacking all my things.

As its name alludes to, the emerald room is in fact almost completely green. It isn't overwhelmingly one color though; specifically, the bed, furniture, walls, and carpet are a harmonious mix of emerald and cream with a hint of champagne accents. I love whoever designed this room.

…

I finish getting settled at around 3:30pm and I am exhausted. I've been up since 5:30 a.m., driving since 6 a.m., and unpacking since noon; I need a nap. However, I told myself I would go and locate all my classes so I won't get lost tomorrow on my first day.

So, with a huge groan, I force myself off the comfiest bed in the world and slip on some sneakers and throw my hair up in the messiest of buns.

The lobby of the dorm is still chaotic from later arrivals, but it's still pretty easy to slip through all the madness to the outside. I pull out my phone and type in the passcode opening up an app that maps out the entire campus. The campus is large with a building for each area of focus and the rest dedicated to on campus living, gyms, and a rec center.

Thankfully, most of my classes were centralized to the biggest building which held most of the general education classes. The only outliers are my art class, which is in a building diagonal from the main one, and gym class which will take place in the gym building I have already seen. Unfortunately, this is one of the only universities left with a required physical education class.

I decide to tackle the main building first since most of the classes are there anyway. As I walk through the doors, I immediately realize that in this overly grandeur building there are no elevators. I only notice this so quickly because I have two classes, World History and English, that are on the first and fourth floor and are my first two classes. My calves are going to be incredibly toned because of this setup.

I sigh and jog up, down, and around the building locating each of classes thankfully with ease. With that out of the way, I head to the Arts and Letters building to find my art class.

I walked down the path leading to the gymnasium and cafeteria or 'The Commons'. They actually had a sign at the fork in the path. I decided that I had fully remembered every turn and staircase I needed to know about and headed back toward the dormitory.

I make my way down the path taking in the strategically arranged trees and flowers that were showing the first signs of Fall. This place really is beautiful; I can already see little nooks where I can do homework, study or just relax.

My daydreaming is interrupted abruptly by the fact that my ass has somehow ended up on the ground. I wince as a sharp pain shoots up my spine and look up and around to try and figure out what the hell just happened.

"Hey, could you watch where the fuck you're going?"

I blink slowly my eyes meeting cobalt blue ones. A tall, buff looking guy towers above me long, inky black hair fastened in a high ponytail so not as to distract from his piercing glare. I'm trying to figure out if he's serious because he definitely bumped into me. I'm the one on the floor.

I feel myself get hot, my jaw and fists clenching; I'm pissed.

"You've got to be kidding-."

"Kouga, are you really so mad about losing our bet that you're just going to scream at people for no reason?"

This guy's, Kouga's, attention turns behind him to some other dude who I lean to the side to get a look at. For a moment, I forget the situation I'm in. This random guy is sort of…breathtaking. He has long silver hair and golden eyes; I've never seen anything like it.

"Shut the hell up Inuyasha," Kouga snarls, "you definitely cheated."

This Inuyasha doesn't look impressed at all.

"How…how can I cheat at running? I didn't teleport to the finish line you idiot."

Kouga grunts and turns his attention back to me.

"Are you just going to stare from down there like a moron all day?"

And I'm back to being pissed again. I want to hit him. I want to hit him really bad. I'm reserved, but I'm not a punk. I don't like being disrespected as much as the next person. However, I'm here on scholarship; I can't afford to make any mistakes.

So, I suck in a deep breath and release it lifting myself up. I simply wipe my butt off and walk right past dude.

"Uh, hey," I hear Kouga shout, "where's my apology?"

I almost laugh out loud but, instead, I shake my head and continue walking.

"I'm talking' to you!"

I feel a hand wrap around my elbow and that is it for me. I yank my arm away and grab his arm twisting it behind his back.

"What the-?"

I twist harder and push him to the ground until he has a face full of concrete.

"Don't ever touch me again." I bite out.

I let go of him and continue to my goddamn last class on my scavenger hunt. As I storm away I hear the other guy call out to me, but I ignore him. I haven't been this pissed in a long time. Who has the audacity, the sense of sheer entitlement, to think that they can just put their hands on someone? I can't even focus right now, so ignore the feeling up eyes burning into the back of my head and make a hard right deciding to just go back to my dorm.

I need a nap.

 **(A/N: Soooo what do you guys think? Good? Bad? Please review and tell me my loves!)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Two chapters at once? Incredible. I'm shook. I hope you're liking it so far!**

 **As always, enjoy!**

 **I do not own Inuyasha.**

…

' _Today is going to be a great day. No one knows about what happened with that jerk yesterday; everything is going to normal, and stress-free.'_

My little mental chant in the shower isn't making me feel much better. As I head to my first class, I'm really hoping yesterday's incident hasn't spread or anything. I just really want my time here to go smoothly! The coursework itself is already going to be a lot to handle.

So when I feel like people are staring at me on the way to class, I figure that's just me being paranoid, but, when I walk into the main building, people are definitely staring.

Damn it. This really is a small campus.

I won't let it upset me though; they're just stares. As I head to the top floor for my first period, I hear whispers of 'Kouga' and 'broke girl' and crap like that. I can't help but sigh; is this really the most interesting thing to happen here?

I finish my second of many hikes up those terrible stairs and make it to the classroom. Any conversation that was going on before I entered the room fell completely silent. So dramatic. With eyes still locked on me, I choose an empty seat in the back corner by the window. I sigh for the thousandth time in my day and a half of being here and look out the window to tune all the whispers out.

A chair scrapes against the linoleum floor in front of me startling me out of my daydreams. I glance from the corner of my eye to see who one of my neighbors is. My eyes immediately spot silver locks of hair tumbling down strong, broad shoulders. It's the guy from yesterday! Man, what's his name? InuKasha? Inuyaka? Inu…Inuyasha! Yeah, that was it.

Now that I've got a better look at him I realize that unique features aside, he's pretty handsome. He has a nice, sculpted face with an equally sculpted body, from what I can see, to match. However, that does not cancel out the fact that his golden eyes are boring into me. He sits backward in his seat arms folded casually over its back just…staring.

I turn my face fully to return his stare. I'm getting a little uncomfortable.

"Is there something I can do for you," I ask.

He just continues to stare, except this time there's a blink.

I come to the conclusion that he's just messing with me and I go back to gazing out the window. I could feel his stare on me and I start to fidget involuntarily. I glance over at him again and he's just looking me up and down…rapidly and intently. I almost let out a breath I didn't know I was holding as I hear the teacher come in. I face the front to get a look at them, avoiding eye contact with Inuyasha. He turns out to be a short man with fading gray hair and humongous spectacles that make it look like his eyes take up his whole head.

"Good morning class, I'm your World History professor Mr. Myoga. I hope we can have a good semester together."

I watch as Mr. Myoga's bulbous eyes zero in on Inuyasha, who is still looking at me.

"Inuyasha, turn around and pay attention!" Mr. Myoga orders gruffly.

Inuyasha doesn't respond. God, what is with him?

"I think you should listen to the professor," I suggest.

He smirks, the first change in expression I've seen from him, and turns around. What the hell is with him?

Thankfully, the rest of the class goes smoothly; a standard syllabus day. I was not so lucky as far as the rest of the day.

Inuyasha is in every single one of my classes, and, in every class, he's done the same thing he did in World History; stare. Even his locker is next to mine, and he stared then too! That's on top of most of the school chittering about me. Like, I get it; I pinned a guy that obviously has some clout around here, but it's still a little ridiculous to very obviously gossip in front of me.

It finally have a gap between classes, and I'm able to find a nice little spot to eat my lunch; a picnic table right up against a large tree. This is the only place I've seen so far that doesn't have anyone around, which means a break from all the bullshit. I take a bite of one of my rice ball and close my eyes taking in the quiet.

"Kagome?"

My eyes snap open and I'm met with Sango! I've talked to this girl once, but I've never been so excited to see someone. She's not someone who would care about all that bs right?

"Hey! What's up?" I say quickly swallowing the food in my mouth.

"Oh, you know, getting ready to eat."

"Do you want to sit with me?"

She looks a little shocked, "Really?"

"Yeah! You're the only who's been nice to me or even talk to me since I've been here."

It almost looks like she's embarrassed. She gives me a big smile and nods.

"Ok then! Do you mind if my friend joins us too?"

I didn't even notice someone else was here; I'm such an ass. Standing behind Sango is…honestly probably the most beautiful girl I've ever seen! She's definitely model-esque down to the way she holds herself, and, on top of that, she has the same silver hair Inuyasha has. Her eyes are breathtaking though! The most beautiful case of heterochromia iridium I've ever seen; eyes of lilac and amber.

"This is Kagome. She's a transfer from Kyoto."

"Hi, I'm Kiyomi," she says stepping forward and reaching a hand out.

It didn't really register that she's trying to shake hands because I'm still completely awestruck.

"Are you ok?"

I blink and feel my cheeks up; now I'm the one acting like a creep.

"Oh, um, hi! Nice to meet you too. Sorry, you just have really pretty eyes."

She laughs making me feel a bit better about staring, "It's fine! It happens all the time. It's a pretty nice mix huh?"

She crosses her eyes and an involuntary snort of a laugh escapes me. My hand shoots up and covers my mouth; why am I like this?

"Wow that was the cutest thing I've ever heard," she laughs again sliding into the seat across from me.

We easily dive into friendly conversation and I'm honestly so relieved! These two girls are so cool; I really hope we become closer.

"So listen," Sango starts, "I know you've probably heard this all day, but did you actually beat up Kouga?"

I almost choke on the rice ball in my throat.

"No way, was that really you? I thought it might've been, but I didn't want to just throw that out there," Kiyomi admits leaning towards me obviously very interested.

I gulp down the rest of my food and sigh.

"You guys heard that huh?"

"There's no avoiding it. Everyone's been talking about it!"

"Well, I wouldn't say I beat him up. It was more of a pinning technique for self-defense."

"Well you pinned him pretty hard; he has a big ass bruise on his arm," Kiyomi says wounding simply delighted.

I'm starting to think she might want this guy to have his ass beat.

I huff and mutter under my breath, "He should keep his hands to himself then, and really keep his hands to himself."

"Oh my god did he hit you?" Sango gasps.

Yikes, that's something I need to clear up immediately.

"No, no, no! He just grabbed me pretty roughly when I was trying to walk away from our argument. He shouldn't have touched me, but it's nothing like that."

"I can yell at him for you," Kiyomi says raising her eyebrows suggestively.

I laugh, "No it's fine. I'm sure he's going through a lot today already."

"As he should! He really needs to get a hold of that attitude of his," Sango snorts taking a bite out of a red apple.

The girls continue to tell stories about encounters with this Kouga guy and his attitude and I just listen trying to absorb it all. These girls are really nice; I think we're going to get along just fine.

…

I did it.

I've finally made it to Life Drawing 1, the class I've been looking forward to all day. I sit down at one of the many canvases that circle around the room, the one closest to the window of course, and pull out my own personal supplies for the class. Soon after I get settled an elderly woman with a wicked, long gray ponytail shuffles into the room. The professor, Ms. Kaede, who I've realized is also my dorm head, seems nothing more than I nice person. She greets every student with a pleasant smile, waters a pot of flowers at the corner of her desk; just seems like the sweetest.

She makes her way over to me and holds her hand, which I take in mine with a smile.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Ms. Kagome. I've heard great things about you! I look forward to getting to know you this semester."

"Same here!"

"Well then, let's go ahead and start class," she says projecting her voice for the rest of the class.

She shuffles back to the front of the room and writes her name on the board.

"Some of you already know me, but, for the rest of you, I'm Ms. Kaede. However, please call me Lady Kaede. Welcome to the Life Drawing 1 course. You'll be able to develop your skills at a structured pace here and absorb knowledge of traditional and modern techniques you may not know of. The goal is to communicate what you see through your art. To start off, I'd like you all to draw something that reminds you of home to kick off the school year. This way I'll be able to see where everyone is at, your processes, and I'll be able to adjust the curriculum accordingly. You may begin."

This assignment, in particular, is easy for me since the heartache from yesterday is still fresh. I begin sketching the shrine, the forest behind it, the old well house, and my mom and Souta. I start off with a light gray for the sketch that, right now, just consisted of different shapes that would be seen as vague traces of trees and people.

As I finally start getting into details and more defined lines, the door to the class swings opens. Who the hell can possibly be walking in twenty minutes into class? I peak from behind my canvas to see who was about the get scolded.

Oh.

Of course.

Inuyasha waltzes into the room as if he's right on time and grins at Lady Kaede.

"Hello Kaede. Beautiful as ever I see!"

Oh my god. So informal. Kaede does not look impressed crossing her arms and glaring at him.

"How kind of you to join us, Mr. Takahashi," she says shaking her head, "What brings you to class late on the first day."

I'm getting a vibe they might know each other kind of well.

"A bellyache," he puts sticking his bottom lip and patting his stomach.

"Oh spare me your lies Inuyasha!" she scolds placing her hands on her hips.

Oh wow, the sass.

"You know, you're just like your father! You Takahashis can't take anything seriously."

"Well, you're just like your niece! Always yelling at me!"

Oh yeah, they know each other. They continue their oh so charming back and forth until she finally has enough of him and shoos him away. He rolls his eyes and heads towards a seat directly diagonal from me, next to the door. I see him pause for a second and then his eyes flick towards me and lock on mine.

I've been spotted.

I whip my head forward staring holes into my canvas and continue with my line work. I'm at a point now where I can tell when he's looking at me. I take a chance and peak out the corner of my eye, and there he is smirking. He seems so satisfied that he's been able to make me uncomfortable all day.

I sigh and try to focus on the work in front of me. Once I start in on the details I easily fall back in. The little oval shapes with the cross in them I'd started out with, start become more and more my mom and Souta, the bark of the sacred tree, the paneling of the well-house. I've finished the line work and I'm about to start adding color when, of course, times up.

' _Damn it.'_

I pout and gather my things wishing I had more time.

"What gorgeous work Miss Kagome! How impressive!"

I didn't realize Kaede had made her way over to me. I try and shrug off the blush I felt coming on and comb my fingers through my hair.

"Thanks, I wish I could've added color though. I guess I'm pretty slow."

"Good things take time. However, we will be learning some time timesaving tips; maybe those will help," she assures, "How about you come back tomorrow with it completely finished? I'd love to see the final product."

"Of course!"

It's nice that she seems so genuinely interested in my work. Definitely a confidence boost. I gather all my things together hefting my yellow bag over my shoulder. As I start to leave, I see Inuyasha going crazy on a sketchbook with different shades of blue color pencil.

"Inuyasha, did you even do today's assignment," Kaede berates.

"No, I have my own that I've been working on since this morning," he drops the pencils and shows her his sketchbook, "see? It's perfect right?"

Kaede glances over at me and then back to the sketchbook.

"It's great but stick to the assignments from now on!" she says smacking him with a rolled up folder.

I quickly walk out not wanting to witness another argument. I wonder why Lady Kaede looked at me when she was looking at his piece? I decide to just drop because I tend to overthink things. She really could have just been wondering why I was still there. I shake it off and head to the last class of my day, P. E.

…

I enter the locker room looking around for my locker number, forty-five. Thankfully, it looks like I didn't have as much attention on me compared to the rest of the day. Instead, everyone seems to be grouped up with old and new friends talking about the rest of the day. I reach my locker and start stripping down. As I pull up my gym shorts provided by the school, I feel a pointy nail poke my ass.

"What a cute butt."

I whip around covering my butt and see Sango and Kiyomi snickering.

"No way! You guys have this class too?" I ask forgetting my butt had been touched and pulling my shorts up the rest of the way.

"Of course! P.E. should only be at the end of the day," Kiyomi says a matter of factly.

"I have club after this anyway so it's a good way to warm up," Sango adds.

"But in all seriousness, are you ok?" Kiyomi asks a little worry laced in her tone, "You seem a little out of it. Is something bothering you?"

"Oh, well, I mean," I stutter wondering if I should even mention it, "well, do you guys know someone named Inuyasha?"

Kiyomi's eyebrows raise, "Yeah, that's my cousin."

"A friend of mine since forever," Sango says.

Great, maybe I should have kept my mouth shut.

"Did he do something to you?" Kiyomi pries leaning in close.

"I mean not really anything bad," I insist, "he's just been staring at me and I don't really know how to handle it? He's in every single one of my classes so far and he just looks at me like this."

I mimic his weird smirky face and a long 'Oh' comes from them both.

"Yikes."

"What a weirdo."

"Listen, don't worry about it. I'll tell him to lay off," Kiyomi assures.

I believe it. She seems like someone who can get down.

We all walk into the gym together after I've got my baggy shirt and shorts on, continuing our getting to know each other conversation from lunch. As one would expect from going to this school, they are both heiresses. Sango is a Nakamura, a family who specializes in the country's military technology and military exports. They also make traditional weapons and have a centuries-old fighting style exclusive to their family. Kiyomi's family, the Takedas, are big in the entertainment industry; movies, TV, fashion, music, etc. She even models sometimes for their company! Meanwhile, I'm an extraordinary shrine maiden for tourists. I admire how they still manage to stay so down to earth.

When I break away from the conversation to scout the gym, a few things are definitely a problem. Not only is Inuyasha in the class, Kouga is too.

They're both watching me.

"Alright you young people, listen up!"

A rickety old man stomps to the center of the gym with a blaring megaphone. I almost laugh; he has a top not. What is this? The Edo period?

"I'm Totosai you're P.E. instructor. I'm old, I've never been athletic, and I don't want to be here! I'm at a point where they won't fire me because I've been here forever, so I'm doing whatever I want and you're going to deal with it!"

He waves a stack of blue papers and sets them on the ground.

"These are syllabi with a schedule of circuits and sets you'll be doing all the way to the end of the year! Read it over and leave me alone!"

Say less! I'm not really in the mood to do anything anyway. Totosai and I are going to get along great this year. Sango, Kiyomi, and I find a spot on the bleachers and look the syllabus together.

"These are actually pretty well-rounded routines," Sango says impressed.

I feel Inuyasha staring at me and glance over at him. He's surrounded by a bunch of people who are obviously trying to talk to him, but he's being rude and looking at me. Kiyomi must have followed my eye-line because shortly after I look at him she's out of her spot and walking towards him.

"Hey, what's your deal?"

I duck my head down very embarrassed and try and look the other way. They're too far to hear, so I peak over my shoulder to try and get a gist of what they're talking about. There seems to be a lot of yelling and hands expressing words. With a final punch in his shoulder, Kiyomi walks back to us obviously a little irritated.

"Give us the rundown," Sango demands.

I'm pulled into a weird sort of seated huddle secretly anticipating this 'rundown'.

"It went like this," Kiyomi says sucking in a deep breath before spilling all the tea, "What's the deal you freak? What do you mean? Why have you been bothering Kagome all day? Who? The girl you've been staring at. Oh. Well? I can't look at people now? You can't be weird about it. I do what I want. You're ugly. No, you're ugly. Punch and now I'm back here."

The caveman type voice she used as she alternated parts in their conversation was phenomenal. An icon.

"So he deflected," Sango responds sighing.

"Yeah."

"Guys, really, it's ok. It's not like he's stalking me or anything," I insist.

Well, maybe a less intense variation of it.

Class finally finishes up and I'm completely done for the day! I can go to my dorm, chill, and forget how weird this day was! Sango and Kiyomi leave before me saying something about a club meeting, so I walk out alone.

Waiting outside for me is someone I didn't really expect to see, Kouga. I freeze in place slightly shocked that we would be face to face again so soon. I quickly recover and brace myself for whatever he's about to throw at me. However, getting a better look at him, he didn't seem anywhere near as aggressive as he was yesterday. His hands are tucked in his pockets and his head is slightly down as he stares into the concrete.

"Hey, sorry to bother you," he lifts and hand and rubs the back of his head clearly nervous, "I just want to say that I'm sorry about yesterday. I have a real problem with my temper and attitude that I've been getting help for, but it doesn't excuse how I treated you yesterday. I'm really sorry."

He goes into a deep bow and I'm a little shocked at how formal he is.

"Hey, you know, it's fine. I mean, you're right, whatever diagnoses you have is no excuse to lash out like that, but you acknowledge that and you obviously feel bad about it. I was kind of daydreaming yesterday, so I should have at least paid more attention. Also, you don't have to bow."

He stands up sharply, and his face would be beet red if he didn't have such nicely tanned skin. He sort of gawks at me, stiff in posture completely stuck in place. Is he that embarrassed about yesterday?

"Really it's fine," I insist holding a fist out for a friendly dude-bro truce.

He stares at my hand before slowly bumping my fist with his much bigger one.

"See," I say smiling up at him, "we're all good."

He turns darker and I worry I said something wrong. Was the dude-bro fist bump overdoing it?

"Uh, th-thanks," he stutters scratching the back of his head again, "I'll see you around."

Then he just sprints off into the distance. Is this resolved? I feel like it should be, but he acted so weirdly. I shrug it off, maybe he's just still feeling bad about yesterday.

A door adjacent to the girls' locker room door swings open and out comes another problem, Inuyasha. He notices me and smiles nodding to me. I'm not about to play with him. I ignore him and head for my dorm building acting like I'm doing something important on my phone. I can hear his footsteps a good distance behind me, and, as I get closer and closer to my dorm, I suspect he's trying to follow me.

Alright, that's enough.

I stop and whip around glaring at him, which I have to look up to do. He stumbles to a halt clearly not expecting me to confront him.

"What's up?"

I scoff, "What's up? Why are you following me?"

He raises an eyebrow appearing genuinely confused, "I'm just going to the library."

He gestures behind me and I see that the library is actually behind my dorm, but I'm still not buying it. I fold my arms over my chest.

"Explain why you've been staring at me all day then."

I can literally see the twinkle of laughter in his eyes. He raises his arms in defeat and pulls his backpack off his shoulders. He unzips it, pulls out the sketchbook from before, flips a few pages, and holds it out towards me. I give him a suspicious look before slowly reaching out and taking it. I hold eye contact with him for a while, making sure he didn't have anything up his sleeve, and then look down at whatever he's trying to show me.

Oh my god.

It's me.

It's a drawing of me in our first class staring out the window, and it's extremely realistic. I can see every stitch in my green top, the pattern on my notebook, every loose hair. Everything is left colorless except for my eyes; an entire spectrum of blues blended and shaded together beautifully.

I snap my head up looking at him with a slightly dropped jaw. I know my face is red at this point, but I can't turn away as he takes the sketchbook back.

"I don't know, you just really caught my attention yesterday," he says putting the book back in his bag.

He situates the backpack back on his shoulder and looks at me, no, into me giving me a genuine smile for the first time. No smirk.

"Plus," he says, "you're incredibly beautiful."

I'm going to die. I quickly look down, not able to take his stare anymore. He's feeling just fine though and casually walks past me to 'the library'.

"See you later Ka-Go-Me."

 **(A/N: Do you like it or do you love it? Leave me a review either way!)**


	3. Chapter 3

**What is happeniiing. A big thanks to all of you who reviewed! It's nice to know I'm on the right track. I'm probably going to update pretty often? I have writer's block for my other project.**

 **So yeah hopefully you guys will get some consistent updates.**

 **As always, enjoy!**

 **I do not own Inuyasha.**

 **. . .**

Thank the gods it's Friday.

My head drops on my thhird class' unassigned, but definitely mine, desk and I groan softly. This week has been so weird. No, let me not, because it has been relatively normal thanks to Kiyomi and Sango. What has made this week so weird is Inuyasha. He says this wild, random declaration Monday after showing me a picture he'd drawn of me after watching me all day. Then, for this whole week, he just acts like a (relatively) normal person. No prolonged stares, weird smirks, or anything like that. Just normal smiles or the occasional wink.

How am I supposed to react to any of this? He sort of harassed me? Is that the right word? Because stalking isn't. I know I wouldn't tolerate that behavior from someone I didn't find attractive, so what does that say about me? Anyone can harass me as long as they're cute?

I groan louder trying to push the entire thought process out of my head. It doesn't matter, right? I mean he's acting normal now, so why trip?

"Ms. Higurashi are you alright?"

I shoot up in my seat; I guess I forgot I'm still in Chemistry? I can't afford to be in my head in my worst subject. Get it together Kagome.

"Yes, sir I'm so sorry."

He waves a hand indicating it isn't a big deal, "It's alright, I just want to follow up with you about what we talked about earlier this week. Now, from the grades I've seen from your previous school for your gen ed science classes, I don't think you'll have a problem with this class. However, since you insist, I can direct you to one of our tutors in the library; he's a brilliant young man and it's truly amazing he even volunteers for this."

He hands me a paper with the name 'Naraku Onigumo' scribbled on it.

"Now, is there a time you'd like to meet him?"

"Oh, um, I don't mind swinging by after school to talk about setting a schedule."

"Alright, I'll let him know and he should be there after school alright?"

"Yes, sir thank you."

I fold the piece of paper and tuck it into my jeans' pocket. I guess this is a plus, a free tutor. Lord knows I'm too much of a liberal arts hoe to retain most STEM subjects.

Soon enough, the bell rings and I finally get to 6th period.

'One more class girl, and then it's girl's night."

Sango and Kiyomi are coming over tonight to hang out! I don't really know what we're going to do, but I'm sure we'll probably just talk or watch a movie and eat-.

'Shit.'

I'm definitely low on food. I didn't bring much over because I told myself I could just get groceries, but I haven't yet.

'Relax, just go after school after talking to the tutor.'

Yes, that's the plan.

Life Drawing obviously calms me down. It's just a lesson on dynamic poses, and in-class practice; no problems from Inuyasha.

On my way out of class, Kaede stops me a piece of paper in hand.

"Kagome dear, Inuyasha is in your next class, isn't he? Could you give this to him for me? It's our first project's instructions."

I stare at it as if it's the plague; why me? Actually, no, of course, it's me. I accept the task obviously. I'm not just going to say no to Kaede for no reason except Inuyasha's a weirdo.

P.E. goes by quickly. Our routines are intense but pretty short. Soon enough, I'm waiting outside the locker rooms for Inuyasha to come out.

'Just a quick swap and you're home free."

"Are you waiting for someone?"

I damn near jump out of my skin clutching my bag's shoulder strap so hard my knuckles turn white. Inuyasha, just the guy I'm looking for. He hasn't talked to me much, or at all, this week, so I'm surprised he's the one approaching me.

"Uh, um, yeah," I stammer sifting through my bag for the piece of paper, "Kaede wanted me to give you our project instructions since you forgot to grab yours."

I hold out the piece of paper for him and he takes it looking it over quickly.

"Oh thanks," he says folding it up and sticking it in his pocket, "I had written down the instructions, so I thought I'd be fine."

Of course he did. I hold in the sigh instinctively ready to come out. It's not healthy to sigh this much right? It can't be.

"Oh, ok, well I'm just going to-," I gesture off to the general direction I'm headed and start to walk away briskly.

Hopefully not quickly enough to make it obvious that I'm trying to escape.

"Kagome, wait."

I skid to a halt and glance over my shoulder. What is it now? He steps up to me almost as if he's being cautious and runs a hand over the back of his neck.

"I feel like we got off to a bad start."

I turn fully to face him eyes widening. Perceptive this one.

I fold my arms over each other nodding, "I would think so, yeah."

"Yeah, you know it'd be easier to say I was high or something, but I think I was just-."

"Weird?"

He lets out a soft chuckle, "Well yeah, but I think I just didn't know how to approach you."

"Well, that would make sense to me if you didn't seem like a confident guy already? I mean that really was borderline harassment."

That's it, hold your ground girl. No passes for attractive men either.

"I know," he sighs, "I'm really sorry."

I wait to answer, letting him marinate in a fraction of the discomfort I experienced because of him.

I smile and shrug my shoulders, "It's all good! I appreciate that you came and apologized. Even though it took five days."

"Ouch," he laughs, "you know, I'd like to make it up to you. What are you doing right now?"

"Well, I'm supposed to meet a tutor in the library to set up some appointments and then I'm going to the store because Sango, Kiyomi, and I are having a girl's night and I need food for the month."

"Busy, busy. Well, I'd like to help you with grocery shopping if you'd let me? I'm good for carrying a large amount of grocery bags at once."

The word 'No' almost shoots out of my mouth like a bullet, but he has a point. Up until this point, I did not think about the one trip requirement; I always had Souta to help me. I chew on my lip trying to see if there's any way this could go terribly wrong, but I got nothing at this moment. Plus, I'm lazy and don't want to make multiple trips by myself.

"Yeah, actually, I'd appreciate that. I have to go to the library first though. It shouldn't take long."

"Sweet. You're in the Tama dorm, right?"

"Yeah."

"Cool, I'll just get my car and wait for you out there."

"Oh, you don't have to use your car!"

"I insist! I'll see you in a bit then."

He strolls off with a little kick in his step and I blink slowly. What just happened? Am I making a mistake? I start walking towards the library, my eyebrows furrowed with worry.

'Is this a good idea? I don't really know him. I mean, how else do you get to know people unless you spend time with them right?'

Again, I shake off the rambling in my head. It's good to stop most of my train of thoughts when they start to prevent paranoia and an increase in anxiety levels.

I check the library map out front before walking in and looking for the tutoring area. This place looks more like a city library than any school one I've ever seen. I need to stop being so shocked at this kind of thing; I knew what I'd be getting into when I got enrolled.

I reach the tutoring area glancing around at the tables in confusion. The tables were all numbered and covered by a sort of partition that surrounded the entire thing, chairs and all. Talk about privacy.

"May I help you miss?" a woman from what looks like a help desk asks.

"Oh, I'm dropping by to see a Mr. Onigumo."

"Alright, he's at table number five."

I thank her with a small bow and make my way over. I have to circle it a little bit until I reach the small opening.

"Hello, Mr. Onigumo. Nice to meet-."

Whoa. This guy is handsome. What is with this school? Is it just filled with perfect genes? And men with long hair?

I'm pretty sure he's a student here? He has to be. This man looks like he's made of porcelain with eyes almost as black as his hair that falls in waves down this back. Truly just a beautiful man.

"Oh, hello Ms. Higurashi. It's nice to meet you. The professor told me you'd be stopping by," he says standing up to shake my hand.

If velvet was a voice it would be this guy's voice. He sits back down and pulls out a book, which I think is a planner, and gestures to the seat across from him.

"Take a seat and we can discuss which days are going to work for us both alright?"

I nod and take my seat; get it together girl. It's not even that I feel like jumping on these guys it's just more of shock factor. Like wow, look at all these beautiful people.

"So," he starts, "from what your teacher has told me, it seems you may be being a little overcautious. I'd like to know why you feel Chemistry isn't your strongest."

"Well, good grades aside, overall I have trouble retaining most science subjects. It takes up most of my study time, so I figure if I have a good tutor to drill the information into me I'll be able to focus on the other subjects. I just know the course load is big here, so I'd like to be prepared."

He smiles, "How admirable. Well, how would Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 3:15 to 5:00 work?"

"That sounds good to me."

"Great then."

He stands up along with me and moves to let me out first. I smile and give him a slight bow before going ahead of him. Suddenly, I feel a hand on the small of my back that makes me jump just a bit.

"I'm looking forward to our time together, Ms. Kagome."

A small shiver runs up my spine. I didn't expect him to be that close behind me.

"Yeah, um, same. Have a good day!"

I scurry out of the library feeling very…creeped out.

'We're not going to overthink that situation.'

Thankfully, the library is pretty close to my dorm, like a three-minute walk, and soon enough Inuyasha is in seeing distance. He's leaned up against a wall tapping away on his phone.

"Hey," I call out.

He looks up and smiles.

"Hey! All set?"

"Yup."

"Great let's go."

I follow him to his car and I almost walk past him when he stops because there is no way this is his car! He's unlocking a blood red, sleek as hell sports car!

"Where are you going?"

"That's your car?"

He grins patting the top of it proudly.

"Yes indeed. Aston Martin DB11. Isn't she beautiful?"

This is insane. I climb into the car's cream interior with great care afraid I'll mess something up. This car is definitely worth more than I am.

"So, where are we headed?"

I smack myself lightly on the forehead, "Man, I forgot to check what's around here! Give me a sec."

I pull out my phone and tap in 'grocery stores near me' into the search bar.

"'Kinokuniya Supermarket'?" I say holding my phone up to him so he could see the map.

"Got it."

He whips out of his parking space and speeds out onto the street.

"Are you trying to kill me?" I shout clutching on to the door handle.

He laughs and continues to speed down the street like a madman. This is it. This is his plan. He's going to kill me because I accused him of harassment.

He skids to a stop at a red light and I gasp for air because I have been apparently holding my breath this entire time.

"What is the matter with you?" I snap glaring at him with everything in me.

He laughs again, "Sorry, just trying to show the car off I guess. No one else has been in here yet."

"Probably because they know you drive like this," I huff brushing my hair out of my face.

"You may be right."

We continue most of our ride in silence, which is only sort of uncomfortable. Once we pull in to the store parking lot, he gets out staring at the building as if it's an entire alien spaceship.

"Now, I'm going to be honest with you because you're probably going to make fun of me anyway," he says as we walk to the front doors, "but I have never been to a grocery store."

I pull a cart from out of a group of them, "Are you serious?"

He nods and I just shake my head. I guess it makes sense? If you're rich I guess you don't do your own grocery shopping.

"If I may ask, what has your family done to make it so you don't do your own grocery shopping?" I ask as we start to walk through the different aisles.

Well," he looks up in thought, "you can trace Takahashi wealth back to the feudal era; I guess we've just been able to adapt with the times."

I stop my inspection of an enticing pomegranate as realization washes over me.

"Wait, Takahashi as in the "jack of all trades" Takahashis?" I ask a little too loudly.

A couple of people stare as they walk past, and I lower my head slightly in embarrassment.

"Is there another Takahashi family I don't know about?" he asks jokingly.

The Takahashi's are without a doubt the business moguls of Japan. They have their hands in a little bit of everything: electronics, car manufacturing, finance, the list goes on. I'm standing next to probably the richest person in Asia.

"Enough about me," he insists, "tell me about you."

He literally told me one thing about himself? But ok.

"I was born and raised in Kyoto and my family owns a shrine."

How exciting. I pile some hamburger into my cart ignoring the feeling of being so lame.

"Come on, that can't be all there is to Kagome Higurashi."

"Hey, all you've done is tell me you're rich and have never been in a grocery store. It's hard to describe yourself; it's something you have to sit down and think about."

He smiles and grabs my favorite brand of instant ramen I'm struggling to reach.

"I guess we'll have to sit down and think about it together then."

. . .

Inuyasha and I burst into my dorm huffing and puffing dropping several bags onto the floor.

"We did it," I cheer through a pant raising a hand for a high five, "team one trip!"

He returns the high five and lets out a quick breath.

"Alright, so where does all this stuff go?"

"Oh, you don't have to help me put everything away," I insist rushing to peel the bags from his hands.

His grip tightens around the handles and he raises an eyebrow.

"I thought you wanted to make some snacks for Kiyomi and Sango? You have like an hour. You have to let me help you with one job, and I can tell you right now I'm not that useful in the kitchen at all."

Again, he does have a point. I look between him, the kitchen, and the bags a couple of times before throwing my hands up in defeat.

"You're really good at…wearing someone down huh?"

He snorts and places all of the bags on the counter before walking around it into the actual kitchen space with me.

"I wouldn't phrase it like that. I just think I'm really good at reasoning with people."

From there, we fall into a comfortable pace and rhythm of me telling him where to put things while I also move around trying to make snacks. These aren't standard snacks they're probably used to; I spent an entire night on Pinterest looking at a variety of western appetizers, so here we are.

"Can I ask you a question?"

I blink out of the hyper-focus mode that I'm using on these weird sandwiches with a flatbread I can't pronounce and glance over at him indicating that I'm listening.

"What brings you all the way here from Tokyo?" he asks, "I know it's a good school and everything, but the school we compete with for our rank in Nara would be way closer."

I wipe my hands on a rag; now he has my full attention. Not much eye contact, but my attention. The reason is relatively personal I guess, and I've never said it out loud. My mom and Souta just kind of understood the why, no questions asked.

"Well," I start my voice coming out quieter than I expect, "my dad went here. His mom, my grandma, is French and his dad is Japanese, so he lived in Paris up until his first year of high school. He came here for college, loved it, and flourished."

I grip the counter a little tight and take a deep breath.

"He passed away right before I started high school, so I guess that just strengthened my desire to walk in his shoes."

Speaking about my dad in the past tense, even after all these years, is still foreign to me. I'm sure Inuyasha is feeling awkward right about now and will try and change the subject, which is fine. I haven't talked out loud about my dad with anyone since he passed.

"That's so cool. Is he an artist too?"

I whip around staring at him full on now. What? Don't people usually clam up when you tell them this sort of stuff? Again, I haven't talked about my dad ever. I'm not sure if it's to prevent it from being any more real than it already is or just because…no one has ever wanted to talk about him. Maybe a bit of both.

"Um," my voice, again, comes out in a whisper.

I clear my throat and try again.

"Um, yeah, he is."

"And your eyes? Did you get those from him too?" he asks leaning against the counter.

My hand slowly moves and caresses the spot under my eyes seemingly on its own.

"Yeah, he has blue eyes too. Which I've always thought was weird because blue eyes are a mostly recessive gene."

A random fact I did not need to insert there. I duck my head down slightly feeling a blush coming on. Am I nervous? Maybe? I feel weird right now. I lift my head up because I'm being ridiculous only to be caught in Inuyasha's gaze. He holds our stare and it feels like he's moving closer and closer.

"That's great though; it means you're one in a million," he says softly.

He's one to talk. I felt myself getting lost in his intense, hypnotic gaze and blink rapidly trying to snap out of it.

"Y-you too!" I stammer stepping back a little, "At first I thought your eyes were gold, but now that I've gotten a closer look they're definitely amber."

I truly am just a blabbering idiot. I think the gods have finally decided to have mercy on me because, before Inuyasha can respond, there's a knock on the door. I hurry over glad I could break whatever intense energy he had me caught up in.

When I open the door, it's Sango and Kiyomi of course. Right on time at five o' clock with arms full of snacks and…a cat.

"Hey girl! Thanks for having us over," Kiyomi says.

"Of course, come in," I step aside letting them through, "who is this cute little kitty?"

Sango grins, "This is my baby Kirara! I-."

She stops abruptly, and I realize they've both spotted an Inuyasha in the kitchen, which I understand warrants some kind of explanation.

"What the hell is going on here?" Kiyomi questions looking lost.

"Listen, it's not anything weird," I sputter out like a nervous person who is absolutely guilty of something, "I just-. He's-. We were-."

"I took her to the grocery store and helped her put up her groceries as an apology plus peace offering."

The explanation is presented beautifully, very smooth and concise a 10/10.

"Ooook," Kiyomi says looking between the two of us, "well get out. It's a girl's night."

Inuyasha rolls his eyes and heads towards the door.

"Oh, I'll walk you to the elevator," I insist stumbling into a pair of slippers, "I'll be right back guys."

"How nice of you. Does this mean you're not afraid of me anymore?" he asks as we walk down the hallway.

I scoff as we reach the elevator and glance up at him.

"I guess so," I say with a quiet laugh, "but, seriously, thanks for today. I appreciate it."

"No problem at all."

We both kind of stand there and I wonder why he isn't pressing the down button for the elevator.

He scratches the back of his head and averts his eyes, "Listen, I'm sorry if this is a stupid assumption, but do you speak French?"

I blink; how random.

"Um yeah, I do actually."

"How well?"

"It's my second language."

He sighs in relief, "That's perfect! I was wondering if you'd be willing to tutor me. I can pay you and everything, it's just the tutors here aren't working for me."

A yes automatically leaves my mouth before I even consider if I actually want to do this. A grin spreads across his face and he punches the down button with his thumb.

"Great! We can work out a schedule later then?"

I nod, "Um yeah. Just stop by when you can make a schedule I guess; you know where to find me."

And just like that, Monday's creep is now officially an acquaintance.

 **(A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this! Review and tell me what you think~)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey yall! I just want to take a minute and appreciate all the feedback I've gotten from old and new readers! I'm really glad you guys are liking it so far! Especially Piana; I really appreciate your thoughtful reviews.**

 **I'll go ahead and answer a common question I've gotten.**

 **Q: Is this going to be an Inu/Kag fic**

 **A: Yes…and no! So of course the main story line is Inu/Kag, but, in the original version, a loooot of people were routing for Inuyasha's competition! (who will remain a secret for now). So, I've come into this reboot expecting to make two alternate story tracks. So we'll se what happens! It's partly up to you all.**

 **Anyway, as always, enjoy!**

 **I do not own Inuyasha.**

 **. . .**

"So, what was that?"

I shrink into my loveseat as Kiyomi and Sango's stares bore into me.

"I know it seems like a jump, in this case, going from creeped out by him to letting him into my dorm, but it is literally exactly as he described it! I swear."

Kiara jumps into my lap giving much needed comfort. I can see why they're both curious, I mean, it's tea, but I can't tell if Kiyomi is weirded out because it's her cousin? I watch Sango pick up one of the 'pinwheels' I made and study it.

"I believe you, you don't seem like a liar to me."

"I mean that's not what I'm saying at all," Kiyomi swears also fiddling with a pinwheel, "I guess I'm just trying to wrap my head around it. It's not normal for him to have acted like that in the first place. You know I've known him all of my life, of course, he's just been…different this past year."

Sango nods in agreement, "For sure he has."

I take a bite of my own pinwheel surprised it actually tastes good; I don't always trust the westerners, but these are pretty good. I notice the mood sobers up even more and decide to talk this through with them since they're clearly worried about Inuyasha to some extent. I can't say I'm not curious to know why he might behave the way he does.

"Did something happen a year ago?"

Kiyomi glances at Sango and they have a silent conversation with their eyes. Geez, what happened to this guy a year ago.

"I guess," Sango sighs, "nothing particularly shocking or rare happened to him. He's just still heartbroken about his ex I think."

"No, that's definitely it," Kiyomi grunts, "Inuyasha and I were way closer until it happened. He's really shut everyone out."

"So what happened?" I ask my curiosity officially piqued.

"Well," Kiyomi starts, "he fell in love with this girl, Kikyo. He was absolutely crazy about her and it seemed like she felt the same way. They dated for like eight months and then she cheats on him with some older guy who used to T.A. here. He lost his mind there for a while. He's pulled it back together a bit, but I think it took a huge blow to his self-confidence. It's like he's teetering on the line between 'I'm the shit' and 'I'm the worst'."

Well damn, that sucks. I can definitely see the confidence thing. I haven't known him long, I won't even say I even really know him, but he does seem back and forth with his self-confidence.

"Well, I don't know him that well, but those things take time to get over, and they can change you. I'm sure he'll ease back into his old self, but the change is inevitable."

Kiyomi nods, "You're right, you're right."

"Now," I say nudging the plate of pinwheels closer to their side of the coffee table, "as my friends you have to try these or I will be sad."

They both let out a giggle and I have officially lightened the mood as a friend should. I watch with anticipation bubbling in my gut as they both finally take a bite of the pinwheels they've been holding on to this entire time.

Sango's eyes widen, "Wow these are good!"

"Yeah what are they?" Kiyomi asks reaching for another one.

A grin spreads across my face, "Aren't they good? I found the recipe on Pinterest, they're called 'pinwheels'. They're basically mini rolled up sandwiches."

We continue to dig into the snacks and talk about random things. We end up staying on the topic of Sakuya Ookochi, the lead singer of the band Lucifer, and another topic pops into my mind.

"So," I say with a mischievous smile, "speaking of attractive men, are you two interested in any of the guys here?"

They do another of their famous eye conversations.

"Or girls?" I add, a very real possibility.

"That's a whole other thing," Sango laughs punching Kiyomi lightly in the shoulder.

Kiyomi blushes, "Well, I can tell you that Sango likes one of Inuyasha's best friends, Miroku!"

Sango gasps the feeling of betrayal clear on her face. The tea!

"Oh ok, well Kiyomi has a crush on Hitoshi Inuyasha's other best friend!"

Yikes, the tea is spilling all over the place.

I laugh, "That sounds like a mess! Are they the ones in our P.E. who are always with him?"

Sango buries her face in her hands, "Yes!"

"Which one is which."

"Well, the guy with the short black hair in the weird low ponytail is Miroku and the tall one with a regular haircut is Hitoshi."

"Hey! I think the pony-tail is cute!" Sango protests.

"Someone has to!"

I watch as they go back and forth playfully teasing one another about their respective crushes. I immediately know who they're talking about. Miroku doesn't have any crazy unique features like Inuyasha or anything with his black hair and dark brown eyes, but he seems like a nice guy. He always has a warm smile on his face and seems to make everyone laugh. Hitoshi is exactly how Kiyomi described, tall. I guess he's not freakishly tall or anything but it's certainly noticeable.

"Ladies, ladies," I cut in, "what's the big deal? You have crushes! Have you not ever said it out loud or something? Why are you embarrassed about liking someone? Shouldn't that be a good feeling?"

"I guess," they both mutter.

I continue to try and pry more gushy stuff from them when I hear a knock at the door. We all stop talking to look at each other in confusion as if one of us is supposed to know.

"Who the hell could it be?" Kiyomi asks eyeing the door.

I shrug and get up walking over to look through the peephole. I gasp, whip around, and look at the girls growing more and more flustered.

"It's them!" I half whisper half mouth.

"Who?" Sango asks.

"Miroku and Hitoshi!"

"What the hell?"

What the hell indeed. How do they know where I live? Why are they here? Why am I as freaked out as them? Another knock comes and I wave my hands at them in some sort of made of sign language which is supposed to mean 'What the hell do I do?'

"Open it?"

"Don't open it!"

The answers come at the same time and I, being as indecisive and flustered as I am right now, swing the door open and crane my neck up to look at the two. Now that I have a better look, I can see why Sango and Kiyomi are attracted to them physically at least. It's this school man, perfect genes!

"Hey there," Miroku greets with a small wave of his hand.

"You're Kagome right?" Hitoshi asks smiling big.

"Um, hey, and yeah? Can I help you?"

"Yes, hopefully with two things," Miroku starts, "Inuyasha says he left his keys up here, on the kitchen counter by the blender?"

I glance over to the kitchen and there are in fact fancy car keys on the counter by the blender. I step aside and welcome them in as I go and grab the keys for them.

"And what's the second thing?" Sango asks folding her arms and looking at the pair skeptically.

"Oh yeah, so we know you all are having a girl's night, but we were wondering if you'd like to come with us to karaoke tonight," Hitoshi explains a charming grin placed on his face.

Karaoke huh? I mean it sounds fun. I don't go out a bunch, but it's good to get out once in a while right. Besides, who can say no to a smile like that?

"No way."

Kiyomi can apparently.

"I know you two are up to something. Why wouldn't Inuyasha come and get the keys himself?"

"He's checking other places just in case," Miroku answers smoothly but a little too quickly.

Maybe they _are_ up to something.

"Well, I don't mind going out tonight, it is a Friday. It's up to Sango and Kiyomi."

I must be the only one who can't do the eye conversation thing because there is an entire wordless debate happening right in front of me. After a lot of eyebrow twitching, glare throwing, and hand-waving Kiyomi lets out a big 'ugh' throwing her hands in the air.

"Fine, sounds good,but I need to give Kiara dinner. And I want no shenanigans tonight," Sango warns.

"I have never shenaninganed a day in my life," Miroku swears a hand over his heart.

"Well, this is great then! It should be fun. I'll go throw something on really quick and do something with my hair. I'll meet you all in the hallway in fifteen."

By doing something with my hair I mean putting on a red baseball cap and stuffing my messy bun through the opening in the back. I squeeze into a pair of blue jeans, throw on a white cropped shirt that I'm sure says 'original' in English in big red letters, my jean jacket, and white sneakers. I grab a little, black purse throwing my keys, wallet, and phone inside before rushing out my door.

Sango and Kiyomi look like they're trying to feign irritation as the guys chat them up, but I know what the real deal is. They're happy we were invited out tonight. We all head downstairs small-talking and what not, well, it's mostly playful banter between the four of them, and make our way out to the parking lot. As soon as we step out, Hitoshi is tackled to the floor by a flash of silver.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" he snarls hands gripping the collar of his shirt.

Me, thinking this is a real fight, rush towards them and try to pry Inuyasha off as best as I could.

"Inuyasha, what's your deal? Calm down!" I shout tugging on his shoulders.

I manage to rip him off, I'm sure because he realizes what a scene this is, and turns his attention to Miroku who backs away.

"They barricaded me in my bathroom!"

Sango's eyes widen, "What?"

He huffs, "We were getting ready to go out tonight, I told them I thought I forgot my keys on Kagome's counter, they push me into my bathroom, and barricade the door."

Kiyomi stifles a laugh as we all look at the two.

Miroku shrugs, "A harmless prank."

"Here asshole," Hitoshi grunts throwing Inuyasha his car keys, "we got your keys _for_ you."

"I didn't _ask_ you to," he spats.

"As much as I find this funny, can we all calm down for a bit? I thought we were going to karaoke?" Kiyomi adds creating distance between the two.

"We?" Inuyasha asks.

"Yeah," Miroku chimes in, "it's been so long since we've all hung out, and you were saying how cool Kagome is, so we thought we'd invite them too."

Inuyasha straightens up a bit combing his hair back with his fingers.

"Oh."

"Yeah, _oh_ ," Hitoshi huffs punching him lightly in the shoulder.

"That's cool right?" I ask.

He glances over at me and then quickly averts his eyes.

"Yeah, sounds fun."

. . .

"Alright guys, what are we eating?"

We made it to the karaoke place with no fuss thankfully. Now, leaning over menus, we're sitting in one of the private karaoke rooms, while I try not to be awkward. I was so excited to just do something fun with Sango and Kiyomi, and now I'm starting to feel a pointless sense of awkwardness now that the guys are also here. I mean, it was supposed to be their guy night or whatever and Inuyasha doesn't creep me out anymore; I guess I'm feeling…shy?

I bury my face into the menu.

' _Pull it together girl. No need to feel weird.'_

A waiter comes in and I take the moment of distraction to shake off all the weird, illogical weirdness my anxiety is giving me right now. I order myself a plate of fries and a water, not really feeling hungry after all those pinwheels, and now it's time to 'bond'.

"Ok, who's going first?" Sango asks twirling the mic in her fingers.

The room is completely silent until Hitoshi scoffs and snatches the microphone.

"I got this you bunch of cowards!"

My jaw drops as Hitoshi belts this song called 'Change the World' in the silliest way possible. Miroku jumps in and that does for me; I burst out laughing along with Sango and Kiyomi. Alright, I'm relaxed now.

A song directory slides into my lap and I glance to my left to see Inuyasha settling next to me.

"I don't know why you're laughing," he smiles tapping on the directory, "you're next."

I shoot him a playful glare, "Oh really? I don't think so."

"Oh yeah, no, that's fine if you're scared."

A challenge? Accepted.

I huff and flip the directory open.

"You're on."

I flip through the dozens and dozens of songs and find the perfect one. I giggle to myself and shut the book.

"Oh please. What's all that about?" Inuyasha chuckles.

"You'll see!"

Miroku and Hitoshi finish their most incredible performance and bow before taking the seat. I punch the song number into the screen, grab the mic, and face my little audience focusing my superstar gaze on Kiyomi and Sango. They both look very confused until the familiar guitar intro comes in.

"No way!" Sango squeals.

It's a really old song called 'I Am' by Hitomi from like 2002. I pull off my hat dramatically letting my messy bun fall down my back into probably a bigger mess and toss it to Kiyomi's lap. I'm feeling myself. I sing the first verse and my two fans go nuts. When they hear the chorus get closer, they come up with me and we all lose it as the chorus comes on jumping and hollering into the mic. Iconic.

The three of us collapse on the couch out of breath and somehow also laughing borderline hysterically.

"That song is so old! I can't believe we remember all of it," Sango laughs out between breaths.

"I know!"

For the next song, Kiyomi drags Inuyasha up with her and they start singing a song no one knows; I think it's part of an inside joke because it's terrible. I take this time to try and get to know Hitoshi and Miroku better outside the romanticized versions I've gotten from Sango and Kiyomi. Hitoshi is the only son of the Okabe, a family that specializes in AI research and development. Miroku is an Iijima and also the _prime minister's favorite nephew_. Absolutely insane. I think the only normal thing I've learned about either of them is that Hitoshi is the captain of the basketball team.

"I'm glad Inuyasha didn't scare you away Kagome, you're a really chill person," Hitsohi says.

"Aw, thanks! I try I guess?"

"I wasn't that bad to her geez," Inuyasha groans rolling his eyes.

"No you were pretty bad," Kiyomi laughs.

"Just completely strange," Sango agrees.

"I get it!"

I watch as everyone continues to poke fun at Inuyasha thoroughly enjoying myself. I'm glad I came out! It's the year of putting myself out there and I think I'm doing pretty well.

Our waiter returns with food and drink and we all take a break from the singing and enjoy some of the food, until Miroku insists that the song he wants to do requires himself, Hitoshi, Sango, _and_ Kiyomi. I watch as they all dance around like dummies and smile.

"Having fun?" Inuyasha asks settling next to me once again.

"Yeah, I'm glad I came."

A short silence passes between us before he breaks it.

"So, I was wondering if I could…have your number. For the tutoring, but mostly because I'd like to be friends."

I feel heat rise to my cheeks for some reason. It might be because he wants my number? But it's not like I like him or anything. He's just been really nice today and helpful. Yeah, that's it.

"Uh s-sure," I stammer out.

We program each other's numbers into our phones before falling into silence again. After a little too much silence, I feel my phone buzz. I glance down at my lock screen seeing a text from Inuyasha.

'It wasn't weird of me to ask for your number right?'

Embarrassment washes over me and I quickly type a reply.

'No, not at all! I'm just weird, I haven't been this social in a while.'

'Why not?'

My thumb pauses over the keyboard and I chew on my bottom lip. Before I reply he sends another message.

'Too personal?'

'No, I've just had some bad experiences and I guess I've let them affect me this way.'

'No shame in that, people change after those types of situations. You can trust Kiyomi and Sango; they're definitely the best people you could've run into.'

'And what about you?'

There's a small hiccup in his reply. Why did I even send that? My screen lights up again and I purse my lips to prevent a big smile from spreading across my face.

'You can trust me too.'

 **(A/N: This chapter was tricky! I changed it completely! Tell me what you think!)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello everyone! Sorry it's taken me so long. Thank you all for your feedback again, it really keeps me going! I forgot how much I enjoy this! As you can see I went and changed the title to something I think is more fitting. This chapter is going to have some French in it and it won't be as bad as the first time I did it hopefully lol I'm minoring in French so it won't be so bad.**

 **ALSO! I changed the season! I realized the Japanese school year starts in like April not in the fall like it does here in the states. Sorry for that error!**

 **That was a lot lol sorry. As always, enjoy!**

 **I do not own Inuyasha.**

 **. . .**

I wake up with a loud groan wondering why, even though I've been doing this for years, I wake up so early every morning. I fumble around my nightstand for my phone before snatching it off and checking my notifications. Two missed messages from Inuyasha. The first one is from late last night; I was trying to convince him that instant ramen is cheap and good so that's why I had bought so many because, clearly, it's a foreign concept to him. The newest one was from 7:13am, a few minutes before I woke up. Guess he's an early bird too.

'Good morning! I was wondering when I could come over today for the tutoring. I'm free all day, so let me know.'

A small smile forms on my lips; we were texting all night, sitting right next to each other most of the time. I type in a reply.

'You're right! How about noon?'

'Sounds good. See you then.'

The reply comes back almost immediately; unheard of. I slide out of bed and shuffle towards my bathroom trying to think of what to do until noon. Brushing my teeth, I glance over at the hamper by the door.

' _I guess I can do laundry.'_

Surprisingly I've accumulated a nice sized load in only a week; including these PJs I'm wearing. I strip them off and throw them in the hamper replacing them with a large, white cotton t-shirt and some boy shorts. The T-shirt falls just below the shorts, but I'm not really worried about my butt poking out a little bit since it's so early in the morning on a Saturday. I'm sure the laundry room will be empty.

I slide on my furry, gray slippers and heft my hamper up before heading out the door. The dorm has its own laundry room on the first floor through a hallway adjacent to the actual building. I have no idea why I have to go through a tunnel when it could just be attached to the building, but it's not that serious.

I push the door open with a slippered foot and shimmy my way through the small opening it created. I'm still really sleepy and kind of waddle my way over to the first machine I see and plop the hamper down. I open the washer and bend down sifting through the clothes and tossing my colors in.

"Kagome?"

I jump with a small 'eek' hitting my head on the washer door. Whipping around I'm met with my tutoree…tutee..student? Inuyasha. I'm met with none other than Inuyasha clad in white tank top that could not possibly be his size. I'm suddenly hyper-aware of all the leg and thigh I'm showing right now, and especially aware of how he just saw all ass before I hit my head and whipped around.

"I-Inuyasha! What are you doing in the girl's laundry room?" I sputter tugging the hem of my t-shirt down.

He raises an eyebrow, "This is a co-ed laundry room. That hallway leads to my dorm."

He points at the identical hallway on the opposite side of the room and I blink slowly. How did I not know that? I suppose that's how he's always able to meet up so fast. At this point I'm probably completely red and look like an idiot trying to keep my shirt down; what a nightmare.

"Is your head ok?"

"Oh yeah, just a little sore," I mumble lifting a hand to rub the tender area that's suddenly throbbing now that I've acknowledged its existence.

I massage the area still making a point to avoid eye contact with Inuyasha.

"So, is what you're feeling more a self-conscious thing or an embarrassing thing?"

I feel my face heat up and snap my head up finally meeting his eyes. He's leaned over a washer in the row of machines separating us his lips spread in a playful smile.

"Oh, so now you're making fun of me?" I huff.

"Not at all! I'm just trying to lighten the mood; I don't want you to feel either of those things."

That throws me off a little. Everything about this guy is unpredictable.

"Well that's sweet of you, but I'm basically half naked and you just got a look at my whole…my entire-."

"Ass?"

An exasperated sigh escapes me, "Yes! You just saw my entire ass!"

"Hey, hey relax! I'm teasing," he leans down and disappears behind the machine and comes back up with a pair of shorts in hand, "I don't want you to be uncomfortable, so you can wear these if you want. I just washed them."

I stare at him in awe; how sweet! I mutter a thank you and accept the shorts slipping them on.

"Just so you know, I have no problem with you not taking the shorts."

I roll my eyes and laugh for the first time feeling a bit more relaxed.

"Oh haha, you're so funny. How can someone be so funny this early in the morning."

"I have to say, it's a talent specific to me."

Just like that the embarrassment kind of just melts away. I can tell he's trying to lighten the mood and it is very much appreciated.

"So, you're an early bird too huh?" I ask returning to throwing my colors into the wash.

"Yep, always. I can see you are too."

"Not by choice. My body just does this at this point," I sigh pushing myself up onto the dryer next to the washer he's leaning against.

We fall into casual conversation and I can't believe how normal this guy can be. If you asked me a few days ago if I could picture myself here I would've laughed. A loud buzzer goes off indicating one of the machines is done and Inuyasha goes and pulls out all the clothes from it and pile it into his laundry basket.

"Well," he says hefting the basket up, "that was my last cycle. See you at noon?"

"See you at noon."

. . .

I tap my pencil against my notebook glancing at my phone for the thousandth time since I've started my homework. I'm almost done, but it could've gone a hell of a lot quicker if I wasn't so worried about the time. I guess you could say I'm…excited about noon rolling around. Not because of Inuyasha or anything; more so because of the French. Yeah. I haven't worked on it in a while, so this will be fun! Yeah, I'm excited about the French.

At 11:55am I finish the last of my work with a groan. Finally! I close everything up and stuff it into my bag for tomorrow, not wanting to see one more lick of chemistry for the rest of the day. I start straightening up the coffee table a little more, removing the excessive amount of breakfast bar wraps and tossing them in the trash can. Finally, I hear a knock at the door.

"Coming!" I holler jogging to the front door before tugging it open, "Hey, come on in."

"Thank you," he says strolling in clad in red joggers and the same too small white tank top from earlier.

"So, this is your Sunday outfit huh?"

"What's wrong with my fit?" he says a hint of offense in his voice.

I brushed passed him to the coffee table where I intend to have us set up at, my nose in the air. I plop down on some pillows and roll my eyes.

"You know that tank top is too small for you."

He scoffs taking a seat across from me and setting his notebook and textbook on the table.

"So now I'm fat?"

"No! It's just too small!"

"I came here to learn, and I feel attacked."

I snort and roll my eyes. He's too much.

"You know what? You're right; let's just jump right in," I narrow my eyes on him and give my best serious face, "I have a few tips that have helped, like, my mom and other people I've tutored. First, introduce yourself to me in French."

"Alright," he takes a pause, seeming to sort through his brain for the right words, before clearing his throat, "Bonjour, je m'appelle Inuyasha, comment ça va?"

"Très bien, merci."

He stares at me expectantly, "So? What do you think?"

"Well, you definitely knew what to say, it's just how you say it."

"You mean the accent?"

"Exactly, so I want you to ingrain this into your mind. Très Français,très fluide; French is very fluid. Every sentence flows together so not every syllable is defined."

He nods slowly eyebrows furrowed in thought, "Alright, I see what you're saying."

"Oh and something else I find helps is making a kissy face! Different languages sometimes require a different way of moving your mouth."

I pucker my lips making the said kissy face and introduce myself in French. He sort of just stares…at my mouth, which I guess is understandable because it's kind of a weird face, but it's going to make me blush if he keeps staring like that.

"Here, you try," I insist.

He mimics me, a look of surprise following soon after when he hears the difference.

"Well damn. What else do you have for me?"

I smile, "Plenty."

. . .

"So the adjective…is on the other side of the noun?"

"Yes! Exactly. So we say wooden table and they say table wooden."

Inuyasha let's out a loud groan and drops his head onto the table.

"Alright, maybe it's time for a break," I suggest laughing.

"Yes. Please. Gods."

I roll my eyes and get up stretching.

"Are you hungry? Up to try the famous instant ramen?"

He perks up intrigued by the mysterious noodles he's heard tales of.

"I'm down."

I set to the arduous task of boiling water for two cups of noodles. A few minutes later I walk back to the table slowly, careful not to spill any of the hot water on myself.

"Be careful, it's hot," I warn setting his cup in front of him.

I thought he'd be a little more interested in the noodles since we had a whole conversation about it, but he's buried in his phone right now looking very irritated.

"Is everything alright?"

He glances up at me a bit of uncertainty in his eyes and then looks back down at his phone.

"It's nothing."

I raise an eyebrow skeptically, "Really?"

He sighs, "Miroku and the rest of the "gang" want to come over and do homework too."

Confused I ask, "That sounds like fun. What's the problem?"

His lips go into a very slight, barely traceable pout as he looks back at me.

"It's just…we were already…we're doing our thing."

"Well yeah, but we're almost finished going through your notes anyway."

He mumbles something I don't quite hear and sighs rolling his eyes. The drama.

"Do you not want to hang out with them? Are you guys fighting?" I question worried.

"No, nothing like that. It's just…it's fine. It sounds fun; I'll tell them to head over."

"Cool."

We sit in silence as I slurp my noodles and I can tell his mood has changed. What's going on? Is he really upset with one of them?

"You haven't touched your noodles," I intone trying to snap him back to reality, "now's your chance to finally see what I'm talking about."

That seems to snap him out of it. He grabs the cup and smiles picking up a bite of noodles with chopsticks.

"You're right. Here we go."

I'm so mad I'm not recording this first bite right now. I watch with anticipation as he chomps down on it. His eyes widen and suddenly he's slurping it all down!

"Whoa calm down! The noodles aren't going anywhere," I laugh.

"These are so good," he says his words gargled as he scarfs the instant meal down.

As I watch him assault the poor cup, a knock comes from the door. I make my way over to the door and open it up revealing my new-found friends.

"Hey! You guys are just in time; Inuyasha's attacking instant ramen."

They all file inside and look at me confused.

"Instant ramen?"

Oh gods, of course they also wouldn't know what the stuff is. I sigh and make my way into the kitchen to boil some more water.

"Make yourselves comfortable! I'm going to have to change your guys' lives too."

Still confused, they all settle in the living room as Inuyasha slams an empty cup down on the table. I listen as he explains to them the enigma that is ramen noodles; it doesn't seem like he is upset with any of them. I wonder what his problem was earlier?

I bring the noodles back a couple at a time and watch as they cautiously take their bites before realizing it isn't, in fact, poison and they could eat it regularly.

"So, are you and Inuyasha still doing your lessons?" Miroku asks flicking his eyes towards his friend suggestively.

"Um, we're actually pretty much done, and I don't have any homework because I finished it earlier. I can work with him some more though, so I don't distract you guys."

"Actually, we're all finished too. We were just going to pretend we were doing homework so we didn't get in your way," Sango explains.

"Should've stayed where you were then," Inuyasha muttered receiving an elbow from Kiyomi.

"We were just bored," she says.

"Oh well, I guess that's perfect then! What do you guys want to do?"

"Oooh, how about a movie day?" Kiyomi suggests.

"Hayao Miyazaki?" Hitoshi adds.

"Sounds good to me! Are you guys good with just a bunch of fruit for snacks?"

"Yeah!"

"Great, my Netflix is already set up, so you guys can choose which one we watch first."

I head into the kitchen and pull out a variety of fruit I'd gotten from the store. As I begin to slice and dice, I feel my phone vibrate. Pulling it out, I see my mom's face on the screen and slide to answer.

"Hey mama," I coo holding the phone between my ear and shoulder.

"Hi honey! Just checking in as usual. How's your Sunday?"

"It's good. My friends and I finished our homework and are about to start a movie marathon."

"Oh well don't let me keep you! I'll tell Souta you said hi and have him call you a little later."

"Oh ok, well it's good to hear from you."

"Oh, and one more thing; Hiten and his father are back from Okinawa! I ran into them today."

I freeze up and I feel the knife slip from my hand and fall onto the counter.

"R-Really?"

"Yeah, and it looks like they're here to stay. They look so much better than they did after the divorce. Seems like that time away did them good! I went ahead and gave Hiten your number since he didn't have your new one so he may try to get in touch soon!"

"Oh…ok."

"Well, I'll call you later sweetie. Have fun! Love you!"

"Love you too…"

The line goes dead and I set it down gently before gripping the counter. I feel dizzy. I feel like my heart and stomach have dropped all the way down to my toes. Cold waves rack my body and I can feel myself slowly start to panic.

No.

No, no, no, no, no.

"Hey, I got all the cups together and here are the chopsticks we all used."

I pull away sharply feeling the brush of Inuyasha's arm against mine and knock my phone off the counter in the process. His eyes focus on me filled with confusion and then worry.

"Hey, are you alright? You're really pale all of the sudden."

"I-I'm fine," I sputter rushing past him, "I just need to use the bathroom."

I bolt into my room and stumble into the bathroom slamming the door behind me. Complete terror has settled in my stomach and is creeping inch by inch up my throat. I feel sick. I drop down and lean over the toilet retching as quietly as I can because I'm hyper-aware that I have company.

I stand up and wash my hands splashing cool water on my face. It doesn't help. I begin to pace back and forth in the bathroom running my hands vigorously through my hair, biting my nails; anything that I can channel the pure terror outside my body.

I've tried so hard to turn everything around. Change my number, move away, eat better, exercise, be more open, being more honest. I've tried not to shrink myself anymore, but now he's back and all I want to do is shrivel up back into the shell of a person I used to be.

He knows my number, he probably knows where I go to school, and he's definitely going to come and find me. The realization causes another wave of sickness to course through me and I slide down the wall curling up against it. I bury my face in my hands.

What am I going to do?

Tears begin to leak out and bite my lip to prevent my sobs from making themselves known.

A knock sounds at the door and Inuyasha's voice filters in, "Kagome? Are you alright."

I wrap my arms around my trembling self; no. I'm not.

"Yeah," I croak out, "I think I'm just dehydrated. Give me a sec."

I almost laugh at the irony. Even now I make excuses for what he does to me. I squeeze my eyes shut trying to focus on my breathing. I'm not in Kyoto. He won't be able to get to me so easily. I'm making new friends here. I'm doing better. Everything is going to be fine.

A few more minutes of that mantra and some breathing and I'm able to step back out into the living room.

"Hey, are you good?" Kiyomi asks rushing over to try and help me to the couch.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. I just need water. You don't have to help me walk," I insist with a weak laugh.

I settle next to Sango and then Kiyomi who was following close behind me and let out a big sigh to release some more nerves. Inuyasha comes up handing me a glass of water.

"I dug around your cabinets, sorry."

"No, it's fine. Thank you so much."

The room stays silent as I sip my water.

"You guys, I'm fine! Really. Which movie are we watching first?"

They aren't convinced, I'm not even convinced, but I push through anyway. We finally actually start our marathon and I'm able to have the attention off me. I'm still really shaken up about hearing about Hiten, but I know all the parts of these movies to laugh, cry, or give any kind of reaction.

I continue to go through the motions for hours and hours, and I feel bad because I really do enjoy hanging out with everyone. I did have a few normal moments, but I'm just really not feeling…present. 10:30pm rolls around and I think we all have a general feeling that this is where the night should end. I hug everyone and say my goodnights and try to ignore the still very worried eyes they're all giving me. Inuyasha is the last one out, and he leans in for a hug which I immediately stop.

"Oh, wait, your shorts. Wait just a minute."

I jog to my room and pluck the folded shorts off the bed before jogging right back to him.

"Here you go."

"Thanks."

We both stand there in sort of awkward silence. Out of all of them, Inuyasha saw how I was directly after the phone call so he definitely knows I'm lying.

"Listen," he starts making me tense up, "I don't know what happened earlier, but I know it wasn't dehydration. We've all only known you for a week so I can understand any reservations you have as far as talking with us about it, but just know, regardless of that, we have your back. Whenever you're ready, you can talk to any of us."

Even though I'm sure I'm not showing it well enough, that makes me feel so relieved. Knowing that if something should happen, I have people here to support me.

"Thank you Inuyasha."

He smiles and pulls me into a hug, which I return whole-heartedly. He lingers for a while, but I don't mind at all. I take the opportunity to be a little selfish and bury my face into his chest.

I haven't felt this safe in a long time.

 **(A/N: There it is! Finally got it up lol. Review please.)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey everyone! I'm back! Big thank you to Piana for sending me that sweet message and inspiring me to start this again. Hiatus over! Just so you know I changed things...again. I just made it so they're in college rather than high school. It just felt weird writing about high schoolers as an adult I guess.**

 **SO anyway the previous chapters have been tweaked.**

 **As always, enjoy!**

 **I do not own Inuyasha.**

 **. . .**

' _Damn it.'_

I curse inwardly wiping another piece of lead off my sketchbook. I've once again been freaked out by the rustling of squirrels. I sigh and run a hand through my hair; I didn't get any sleep last night. With the news about Hiten and having a total freak out in front of people I'm trying to be cool with, there was too much on my mind.

Not to mention these first three classes have been terrible. I just haven't been… _here_ , and I need to be, especially for chemistry. My friends, bless their hearts, have been trying to act normal like I didn't have an episode the other night, but the worry and the questions are there.

I sigh and continue to sketch some sakura blossoms; at least it's nice out. I go back to being a space cadet drawing as many of the blossoms I could fit.

"A flurry of blossoms huh? How whimsical."

I jump with a start again and snap my head over my shoulder only to be met with a stranger. She's clad in a…trench coat, although a very stylish one. She's obviously trying not to be recognized what with the dark shades and the big hat sitting atop long, thick black hair, but that just makes her more noticeable. Who uses that get up to be discreet nowadays?

"Sorry to bother you," she goes on, "this used to be my spot back when I went to this school. I was also often fond of drawing."

She smiles at me and points to the empty spot on the bench next to me, "May I sit with you?"

I finally find my words, "Um yeah, sure."

She settles beside me and tilts her head back letting sakura petals flutter down on her cheeks.

"Like kisses," she whispers content.

Despite her being a complete stranger who is clearly hiding from something, she has a very comforting energy. I feel myself relax bit by bit as her company becomes longer. I go back to sketching just comfortable sitting in silence.

"What's your name?" she asks suddenly.

"Oh, Kagome."

"Ka-Go-Me," she sounds the syllables off one by one, "what a pretty name!"

I blush, "Thank you."

"You seem troubled Kagome, like you've had a really rough day."

Her sudden observation catches me off guard and I clear my throat.

"Oh no, I'm fine. Just tired I guess," I insist laughing awkwardly.

There's a pause before her response, "You don't have to hide anything dear; I can listen if you need. There aren't any consequences in venting to a stranger."

I mean…there absolutely are potential consequences to telling your business to strangers, but it's not like she had anyone else to talk to. What could _actually_ go wrong?

"Well," I start lean my cheek into my hand, "someone I left behind popped up again and…I just don't want to fall back into bad habits. I feel like if they get any closer, I won't have any choice in the matter."

It sounds silly when I say it out loud. I hear the click of her tongue against her teeth followed by an 'ah'.

"I see. I was in a similar situation when I was younger. Sometimes the wrong people have the most power over us. It's hard to shake."

I feel tears slowly welling in my eyes her words resonating deep in my chest; _so_ hard to shake.

"But," she continues, "you've made it this far. You say you've already left them in the past; that means you're stronger than ever. If you feel like your resolve will shake, if you find yourself feeling it would be easier to give in, that's when you need to reach out to your support system. You can't always do it all by yourself."

I wipe my eyes thinking of Sango, Inuyasha, and the others and how they've already done more for me than any other friends I've ever had back home. I should stop avoiding them.

"Thank you," I say quietly having to clear my throat to move around the rasp.

"Kagome!"

Speak of the devil. I glance up seeing Inuyasha and the others heading for me. Incredible timing really.

"Well, I guess that's my cue to leave!"

Her voice came out a little flustered and rush as she shot up straightening out her coat.

"It was wonderful meeting you Kagome! I hope everything turns out well for you my dear!

With that, as mysteriously as she appeared, she was gone.

"Who was that?" Sango asks as they all finally reach me.

"I have no idea, but she was really nice."

It felt a little awkward talking to them all after avoiding them for so long. Well it's only Tuesday, but it still felt like a long time.

I take a deep, reassuring breath, "I owe you guys an explanation and an apology."

"I mean, not an explanation maybe, but definitely an apology," Kiyomi huffs.

"Yeah we've all been really worried about you," Miroku says.

"I know, I know and I really am sorry. I just got some really upsetting news that night and it put me in a bad place. I'm not ready to talk about it yet, but I just need you guys to know that that doesn't mean I think you're not trustworthy or anything; it's just still touchy for me."

Sango takes the empty spot next to me and puts an arm around my shoulder.

"Apology accepted. I know we've only known each other for a week, but I feel like I've really connected well with you. Please just know I'm here when you're ready."

"We all are," Hitoshi adds.

My nose tingles and tears threaten to well once again. I'm such a big baby. Everyone gives me a reassuring hug or a squeeze on the shoulder, except Inuyasha. He's standing outside the little group huddle we were in and was just staring at me. He seemed upset.

I fidgeted under his gaze feeling like I'm in big trouble for some reason.

After a while, he finally mutters, "We have class in 10 minutes."

He must have meant our art class, and he must have meant that as a cue for me to walk with him since he was looking at me so expectantly. I hear a deep sigh through Hitoshi's nose and a 'you've got to be kidding me' from Kiyomi. he clears his throat his look intensifying. What a brat.

I pack my things into my bag and get up to walk with him. I must have hurt his feelings so it's the least I can do. I wave goodbye to the others and Inuyasha and I start walking in silence. I thought he would have something to say to me, but instead he just stared straight ahead as we got closer and closer to the Arts and Letters building. I'm becoming increasingly uncomfortable; should I say something.

"I was really worried about you y'know."

I snap my head up to meet his eyes but they were still trained ahead.

"I know, I'm sorry."

He places his hand on the building's door pulling it open for me.

"You don't have to apologize for needing time with your feelings, just don't...ignore me. Just let me know you're ok, ok?"

I stare at him, though still not meeting my eyes. I fully understand now that he was truly concerned, and it's incredible to me that he has that much capacity of care for me who he's just met.

"Ok, I promise."

"Good," he grunts gesturing me into the building with a nod of his head.

I slide past him. Now I'm unable to make eye contact, my eyes trained on the floor as my cheeks heat up. It feels really nice to know I'm cared for.

…

 **(A/N: All done! Don't worry I have the next chapter started already so it shouldn't be as long a wait. Review please!)**


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